Clay gun



Aug. 15, 1939. J. s. FRASER ET AL CLAY GUN Filed Spt. 25, .1938

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 IIJj VENTORS'. W W

4112 .-\TTORNEY.

15, 1939- J 5. FRASER in AL 2,169,604

CLAY GUN Filed Sept. 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VENT ORS.

QKWCQ,

M ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 15. 1939 UNITED STATES CLAY GUN James S. Fraser, Kettering, and John London, England 4 Miles,

Application September 23, 1938, Serial No. 231,368 In Great Britain March 1, 1938 Claims.

This invention relates generally to improvements in clay guns for use in plugging the tapping holes of blast furnaces to shut off the flow of metal therefrom.

5 Clay guns commonly employed in present practice for plugging blast furnace tapping holes are provided with clay cylinders having a piston therein for forcing the clay through a nozzle into the hole against the hot flowing metal which bakes the clay, thereby forming a solid plug in the furnace wall. The clay piston may be operated electrically, pneumatically, or by steam. The clay gun is ordinarily swung from a crane or other suitable means for properly positioning the gun when in use and for removing it to a remote position to permit other operations in connection with the furnace.

Some clay guns are merely held in position by the crane when the clay charge is being forced into the tapping hole. This method requires additional time in setting the gun, thereby causing a loss in material as well as operating time. It is also diificult to obtain an accurate setting of the gun which is necessary for producing a well centered and eflicient plug. Other clay guns are provided with means for securing the nozzle by hand to the furnace structure to hold it in the proper position. This method also causes a loss of time and is exceedingly dangerous as it necessitates a the presence of workmen in close proximity to the hot metal near the tapping hole.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of means for aligning and securing the nozzle of the clay gun to the tapping hole to insure quick and eflicient plugging thereof,

Another object is the provision of means for automatically aligning and securing the nozzle of a clay gun to the tapping holeof. a blast furnace from a remote position, thereby reducing the danger of the operation thereof to a minimum.

'Another object is the provision of a new and improved clay gun for charging the tapping hole in a blast furnace in a single shot. v

Another object is the provision of a new and improved fluid actuated clay gun having means for securing and charging a slug of clay in a tapping hole in one continuous operation.

Other objects and advantages appear herelnafter.

In the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment illustrating the principles of this invention are shown wherein: V

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a clay gun constructed 55 in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of an alternative form of the nozzle for a clay gun.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a clay 5 gun with one form of crane for supporting the same.

Referring to the drawings, the clay gun it comprises three principal parts; the operating cylinder l l, the clay cylinder l2 and the clay nozzle i 3. The operating cylinder l l illustrated is of the double acting pneumatic type and is provided with suitable inlet and outlet connections it and I5, re spectively, for admitting and discharging air to both ends of the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston it, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Flexible tubing may be secured to these connections for conveying the air to a master control valve for regulating the direction of the movement of the piston l6 and the quantity of air required to operate the same.

ll represents a tubular extension secured to the inner head of the operating cylinder l i. This extension is provided with a cylindrical bore for telescopically receiving one end of the clay cylinder l2. The other end of the clay cylinder i2 is provided with a suitable head 18 for receiving the nozzle I3 which may be quickly fastened and unfastened therefrom by means of the bolts and wedges as indicated at IQ for loading clay within the cylinder I2. The clay cylinder is provided with the piston 20 which is rigidly connected to the piston I6 by the piston rod 2|, both of which are illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The clay cylinder I2 is movably held in telescopic relation within the tubular extension I! by the guide rods 22 disposed on opposite sides of the clay gun and secured at one end to suitable lugs 23 by means of the nuts 24. The guiderods 22 pass through the bearings 25, which are formed integral with the clay cylinder l2, and are secured at their other end by means of the nuts 26 to suitable lugs 21 integral with the partible collar or yoke 28. By adjusting the position of the nuts 24 and 26 the movable collar 28 may be held at different positions relative to the operating cylinder H. The collar 28 is assembled around the perimetral surface of the clay cylinder l2 and is provided with keyways for receiving the splines 29 which prevents the collar from turning but permits it to be moved longitudinally of the clay cylinder. The inner telescopic movement of the clay cylinder is limited by its engagement with the tubular extension I! and the outer movement is limited by the eneil'ective length of the rods 22 determines the outer telescopic movement of the clay cylinder l2. Thus the adjustment of the rods 22 together with the control of the movement of the piston IS in the operating cylinder I I determine the quantity of clay extruded from the gun in a single operation.

, For a clay grm'of about twelve feet in length the telescopic movement of the clay cylinder 12 within the tubular extension I1 may only be a few inches, but these members should overlap approximately two feet to avoid any risk in breaking the clay gun at the telescopic joint.

The top of the collar 28 is provided with a pair of upwardly extending lugs 3| having aligned holes therein for receiving the pin 32 upon which the latch hook 33 is pivotally supported. The elevation of the latch hook 33 may be regulated with respect to the clay cylinder l2 by means of the adjustable rest 34 which may be clamped at different positions along the hook and thus engage different portions of the inclined projection 35. The latch hook may be raised mechanically by the cable line 35 as illustrated.

The latch hook 33 extends beyond the clay cylinder and is arranged to engage a stationary hook member 31 rigidly secured to the shell of the furnace indicated at 38 in Fig. 2. The sides of the stationary hook 31 may be shielded from slag by the side plates 39 and the movable shield 40. The side plates may be formed bell-shape at their outer ends forming an open throat for receiving and guiding the latch hook member 33 into its proper position when the clay gun is swung into operating position. The single latch hook may, if desired, be replaced by a pair of movable hooks connected by cross members permitting them to operate in unison.

The nozzle l3 may, if desired, be formed integral with the clay cylinder I2. However it is preferable to make it detachable to facilitate in changing the same if the tip becomes burned off or broken. The underside of the nozzle should be smooth, having no projections that would catch the side of the channels or. iron runners into which the metal is cast.

The shape of the nozzle may be of the character illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 or it may be frustoposed longitudinally on each side of a vertical plane passing through the axes of the clay gun. These flanges are provided with aligned holes 42 for receiving the pin 43 on which the whole clay gun is pivotally suspended on the vertical link 44 from the boom 45 of the crane 46 illustrated in Fig. 4. The crane can be rotated about a vertical axis 41, so as to swing the clay gun into the tapping hole and hold it there with some force. In practice it is desirable, as the clay gun moves toward the tapping hole, to keep the nomle up until it is above the center of the iron runner, to

.avoid fouling the sides of the runner, after which it may be dropped down to the level of the hole; this is achieved by shortening the length of a cable 48 when the nozzle has reached a position centrally above the iron runner. The cable 43 gagement of the collar 23 with the stops 30. The is attached to the rear end of the clay gun and passes over the pulleys 43 within the boom, thence along the inside of the boom 45, over a pair of pulleys 50, the pulley 5|, and the pulley 52, thence vertically downwards to a weight 53 It will be noted that the boom 45 is in the form of a two-armed lever, the rear arm 54' of which extends backwardly behind the axis of rotation 41 of the crane. The arrangement is such that when the clay gun is in a position away from the tap hole, the weight 53 is at a-lower position clear of a stop 55, and is then in a substantially horizontal position. As the clay gun is swung round towards the tap hole, it maintains its horizontal position until its nose has cleared the side of the iron runners; by this time, however, owing to the rotation of the arm 54 about the axis 41, the weight 53 has been drawn upwards against the stop 55, and during'the further short rotation of the crane necessary to plunge the nozzle into the tap hole, since the weight 53 can no longer move upwards, the rear end of the clay gun'is pulled upwards, causing the nozzle to dip downa wardly between the sides of the iron runners and into the tap hole.

The 'clay gun is operated in the. following manner:

Assuming the clay cylinder l2 to be fully charged, in which case both pistons will of course be at the extreme rear positions, the crane is rotated, preferably by a second compressed air piston and cylinder remote from the clay gun, so as to swing the nozzle towards the. tapping hole. At the correct moment the cable 48 is automatically tightened so that the nozzle I3 clears the side of the iron runner and then dips smoothly into the tapping hole, the latch hook 33 simultaneously riding over the fixed hook 31 and taking up a. position such that there is a small amount of loss of motion between the movable and fixed hooks.

At the end of its rotatory motion the link 44, or the boom 45 by which it is supported, bears against and moves a lever (not shown) controlling the admission of compressed air into the operating cylinder II in such manner that as soon as the nozzle reaches the tapping hole, air

is admitted to the cylinder ll. Owing to the pressure produced by the blast-at the tapping hole, however, instead of. immediately forcing clay out of the nozzle i3, the cylinder II, the guide rods and the collar 28 first move rearwardly, withdrawing the tubular extension I! partially off the clay cylinderv l2, to drag the latch hook 33 to the rear until the lost motion between the latch hook and the fixed hook 31 is wholly taken up. The whole assembly then becomes locked solid against the fluid pressure within the operating cylinder and the rear piston comme'nces to move forward driving the front piston with it so as to force clay out of the nozzle l3 into the'tapping hole.

It will be appreciated that the device described is very simple and as economical to manufacture as the known manually operated type of clay gun, and at the same time it is automatic in operation and thus has the advantage of being as safe in operation as is reasonably possible.

With these improvements it has been found possible to tap and with one shot replug a blast furnace without slackening or taking oil the blast pressure, thereby effecting a very appreciable saving of smelting time and making for smoother functioning of the furnace. f

We claim:

1. A clay gun comprising a compressed air or the like fluid operated rear cylinder telescopically connected with a clay-holding front cylinder the piston of which is drivably connected with the piston of the fluid operated cylinder, and a movable hook, for attaching the gun to a blast furnace or the'like.

2. A clay gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hook is pivotally mounted on said clayholding front cy1inder.-

3. A clay gun as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hook is slidably mounted on the front cylinder and is pivotally attached to the rear cylinder and means are provided for adjusting the distance between the point of attachment of the hook with the rear cylinder and the pivoting point of the hook on the front cylinder.

4. For use in conjunction with a clay gun as claimed in claim 1, a fixed hook secured to the blast furnace wall and provided with a shield, the hook and shield together presenting a mouth for reception of said movable hook.

5. A clay gun as claimed in claim 1 pivotally suspended, substantially at its center, from the boom of a rotatable crane, whereby the gun may be moved towards and away from the tap hole, a cable being attached to the rear end of the gun and the motion of the crane being utilized to operate means for tightening the cable and thus lowering the nose of the gun immediately before the nose enters the tap hole.

6. In a clay gun the combination of an operating member, a clay-holding cylinder telescopically connected with said operating member, a piston in said clay-holdingcylinder for extruding clay therefrom, means carried by said operating member for actuating said piston, and means slidably mounted on the clay cylinder and rigidly attached to said operating member for detachably holding the clay gun in operating position.

7. In a clay gun the combination of an operating member, a clay-holding cylinder telescopically connected with said operating member, a yoke slidably mounted on said clay-holding cylinder and rigidly secured to said operating member, a piston in said clay-holding cylinder for extruding clay therefrom, means carried by said operating member for actuating said piston, and a hook pivotally mounted on said yoke for detachably holding the clay gun in operating position.

8. In a clay gun the combination of an operating member, a clay-holding cylinder telescopically connected with said operating member. a yoke slidably mounted on said clay-holding cylinder, abutments on said clay-holding cylinder for limiting themovement of the yoke thereon, a guide rod rigidly connecting said yoke to said operating member, and means for adjusting the effective length of said guide rod thereby determining the limits of the relative movement between the operating'member and the clay-holding cylinder.

9. In a clay gun the combination of a fluid actuated operating cylinder, a clay-holding cylinder telescopically connected with said fluid operating cylinder, a yoke mounted on said clayholding cylinder and slidable longitudinally thereof between fixed abutments, guides rigidly connecting said yoke with said operating cylinder, pistons in said cylinders, a piston rod connecting said pistons, and means on said yoke for detachably connecting the gun for operation, said operating cylinder moving relative to said pistons when energized for first locking said connecting means and then actuating said pistons to-extrude clay from said gun.

10. The combination with a clay gun comprising a fluid operated cylinder and a clay holding cylinder telescopically connected together,

a piston on each of the cylinders, said pistons being connected for movement in unison and a hook for attaching the gun to a blast furnace or the like, of a two part lever having one lever part mounted for pivoting on a vertical axis and the other lever part mounted on the free end of the first lever part for pivoting on a horizontal axis, the gun being pivotally mounted adjacent its center on the free end of the second lever part on a horizontal axis normal to the axis of movement between the two lever parts, a cablehaving one end attached to the rear end of the gun, pulleys mounted on the first lever part and over which the cable runs, a weight for the other end of the cable, and a stop to limit the descent of. the weight.

JAMES S. FRASER.

JOHN MILES. 

